Board for folding stockings.



PATENTED JULY 4, 1905.

C. H. P. KEENE. BOARD FOR FOLDING STOCKINGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13.1905.

UNITED STATES Patented July 4, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. F. KEENE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, CHARLES I. ROSEN AU, ARTHUR LOEB, AND HERBERT B. LOEB, TRADING AS ROSENAU AND LOEB.

BOARD FOR FOLDING STOCKINGS- SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,106, dated July 4, 1905.

Application filed April 13, 1905. Serial No. 255,308.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. F. KEENE, a citizen of the United States, residing atPhiladelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boards for Folding Stockings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to boards for folding stockings, particularly for folding stockings into the shape known as slipper-fold.

The object of my invention is to produce a board so shaped that the stocking after being properly placed thereon will after removal have the heel folded in such a way that it will lie fiat against the body of the foot without bunching.

Another object of the invention is to so fold a stocking into the shape known as slipperfold that it may be imprinted with ornamental designs, which can only be effected in case all bunching is avoided in folding.

2 5 My invention consists in a board having approximately the shape of a stocking in front elevation and preferably perfectly flat and straight, having secured on its rear face a plate, preferably elastic, and secured to the 0 board only at its upper end.

In finishing stockings,'particularl y the type known as seamless, the stocking after being knitted is moistened and placed on a more or less heated board. The stocking is then dried and then stripped from the board and placed under a hydraulic press, by which its fiat shape is permanently set until such time as it is to be worn by the user. These boards are, generally speaking, of two shapes, one

4 having the shape of a stocking in side elevation with the foot projecting at anangle to the leg, the other having the shape of a stocking in front elevation with the foot in direct line with the leg. A stocking placed on the firstnamed board will'be folded along the front and back of the leg and the top and bottom of the foot and presents no bunched area at the heel, as the pocket formed by the heel fits around the heel of the board. It therefore can be readily stamped with an ornamental design and presents a neat appearance when packed and exposed for sale. A stocking placed on the secondnamed board will be folded along opposite sides of the leg and foot, forming what is known in the trade as a slipper-fold. As the board is perfectly flat and straight, the pocket formed at the heel necessarily forms an irregular bunch on the rear face of the stocking. This is objectionable, for two reasons-first, it is unsightly; second, it is impracticable to stamp designs on the front of the stocking, as owing to the impossibility of the stocking lying flat at and near the heel a design stamped on the front of the stocking over the heel will be blurred or distorted. In my invention I secure to the rear face of the board a folding-plate adapted to receive the heel-pocket of the stocking as the stocking is drawn over the board, as will be more fully understood by reference to the 7 drawings, in whicl Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved folding-board. Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof. Fig. 3 is a rear View of a stocking that has been folded on the board. Fig. 4 is an edge View of the folded stocking. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a part of a folded stocking. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional View of a part of the board with stocking folded thereon. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

In Figs. 1 to 6 the lower parts of the board and stocking are shown at the top, the illustrated position being that in which the board is normally used. The board has the 5 leg portion a and foot portion 6 and in general outline need not difier from the ordinary board used for imparting a slipper-fold to the stocking. 0 is a plate that may for convenience be called a heel-plate. Thisheel- 9 plate extends from the lower part of the leg portion of the board down to the upper end of the foot portion thereof. The plate is secured at its upper end only to the board. Throughout the greater part of its length it lies substantially flat against the board, but

its lower end is bent somewhat outwardly away from the board. Its lower edge is beveled or curved at its junction with the side edges. The width of the plate is preferably less than or not greater than the width of the board at its narrowest part. The plate is preferably of sheet metal having suflicient elasticityto enable its free end to be moved more or less away from the board while adjusting the heelpocket therein.

In practice the stocking (Z is drawn over the board in the ordinary way. The workman manipulates the heel-pocket of the stocking so that the upper half of the pocket will lie outside the plate, while the lower half of the pocket will lie underneath the plate and be folded over against the upper part of the body of the foot. The operation takes very little time, the workman merely running his fingers underneath the plate, springing its free end somewhat away from the board and effecting the described folding. A stocking so folded is perfectly fiat at the heel as well as throughout the remainder of the stocking, the only difference being that there are four thicknesses of material at the heel and two thicknesses elsewhere. A stocking so folded presents a sightly and attractive appearance and may be stamped with any ornamental design without distortion or blurring of the figures.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and a heel-piece secured to the rear face thereof.

2. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and a heel-piece secured at one end only to the rear face of the body.

3. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body having a leg portion and a foot portion and adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and a heel-piece secured at one end to the rear face of the leg portion of the body and having its opposite end free and overlying the body at the upper end of its foot portion.

t. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body having a leg portion and a foot portion and adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and a heel-plate secured at one end to the rear face of the leg portion of the body and having its opposite end free and overlying the body at the upper end of its foot portion, the plate, throughout the greater portion of its length, lying normally fiat against the body, the lower free end, however, being bent outwardly at an angle to the body and the remainder of the plate.

5. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body having a leg portion and a foot portion and adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and a heel-plate secured at one end to the rear face of the leg portion of the body and having its opposite end free and overlying the body at the upper end of its foot portion, the free lower edge of the plate being rounded at its junction with the side edgesof the plate.

6. A shaping-board for stockings consisting of a body adapted to impart a slipperfold shape to the stocking, and an elastic heel-plate secured to the rear face of the body and having one free end retractable from the body and with its edge rounded at its junction with the side edges of the plate, said free end of the plate adapted to receive the heelpocket of the stocking.

In testimony of which invention 1 have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on this 7th day of April, 1905.

CHARLES H. F. KEENE.

Witnesses:

M. M. HAMILTON, THORNLEY B. Woon. 

